...The U.S. Supreme Court (click title to entry - thank you) on Tuesday overturned a $14 million verdict won by a man who was sent to death row for a 1984 murder and carjacking he didn't commit, the Associated Press reported.
John Thompson was freed after 18 years in prison, 14 of which he spent in anticipation of the death penalty, after his lawyers uncovered that prosecutors in New Orleans concealed evidence that would have proved his innocence. A prosecutor is required by law to share any evidence, with the defense team, that could prove a defendant's innocence.
Thompson later sued New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. for the poor training of the attorneys that Thompson's lawyers say were responsible for the violations, and he was awarded $14 million by a jury....
Maybe they feel a need to 'ban together' in Plutocratic macho banter because there are three women of which two are minorities that now share 'the chambers' with them.
This is outrageous. Absolutely outrageous.
... The 32-page dissent, (click here) authored by Ginsburg and joined by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, states that Thompson deserved the $14 million "for the gross, deliberately indifferent, and long-continuing violation of his fair trial right."
"From the top down, the evidence showed, members of the district attorney's office, including the district attorney himself, misperceived Brady's compass and therefore inadequately attended to their disclosure obligations," wrote Ginsburg. "Throughout the pretrial and trial proceedings against Thompson, the team of four engaged in prosecuting him for armed robbery and murder hid from the defense and the court exculpatory information Thompson requested and had a constitutional right to receive. The prosecutors did so despite multiple opportunities, spanning nearly two decades, to set the record straight. Based on the prosecutors' conduct relating to Thompson's trials, a fact trier could reasonably conclude that inattention to Brady was standard operating procedure at the district attorney's office."...
